Clone a top performer

Call clone-from-post

The endpoint is target-first: you mint a fresh UUID for the new container client-side and that UUID goes in the URL path. Replay with the same id and you get the same container back — the path itself is your idempotency key. The Idempotency-Key header is still accepted (and recommended for retries across crashed clients), but :containerId alone is enough for basic dedupe.

sourcePlatformPostId comes from /top-performers or your own metrics query. variations is how many distinct outputs to produce from this one source, all handled inside a single job (max 10).

NEW_CONTAINER_ID=$(uuidgen)

curl -X POST "https://api.layers.com/v1/content/$NEW_CONTAINER_ID/clone-from-post" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $LAYERS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen)" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "projectId": "'"$PROJECT_ID"'",
    "sourcePlatformPostId": "pp_01H9ZXT7...",
    "mode": "fork",
    "variations": 2
  }'

import { randomUUID } from "node:crypto";

const newContainerId = randomUUID();
const res = await fetch(
  `https://api.layers.com/v1/content/${newContainerId}/clone-from-post`,
  {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
      Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.LAYERS_API_KEY}`,
      "Idempotency-Key": randomUUID(),
      "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      projectId,
      sourcePlatformPostId: "pp_01H9ZXT7...",
      mode: "fork",
      variations: 2,
    }),
  },
);
const { jobId, containerId, locationUrl } = await res.json();

import os
import uuid
import requests

new_container_id = str(uuid.uuid4())
res = requests.post(
    f"https://api.layers.com/v1/content/{new_container_id}/clone-from-post",
    headers={
        "Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['LAYERS_API_KEY']}",
        "Idempotency-Key": str(uuid.uuid4()),
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    json={
        "projectId": project_id,
        "sourcePlatformPostId": "pp_01H9ZXT7...",
        "mode": "fork",
        "variations": 2,
    },
)
body = res.json()
job_id, container_id = body["jobId"], body["containerId"]

{
  "jobId": "job_01H9ZXV...",
  "kind": "content_clone_from_post",
  "status": "running",
  "containerId": "cnt_01H9ZXV...",
  "locationUrl": "/v1/jobs/job_01H9ZXV..."
}

One call produces one job and one container. The variations parameter controls how many distinct outputs the job emits onto that single container — no fan-out into multiple containers, no jobs[] array in the response.

If NOT_FOUND comes back with message: "Source post not found.", the post either isn't in this org's scope, has been deleted from the underlying platform, or hasn't synced yet. Platform post sync runs every 30 minutes — a post that went live in the last hour may not be queryable yet. sourcePlatformPostId accepts both the internal platform_posts.id and the platform-native external_id.

If CONFLICT comes back with details.layerCount > 1, the project has multiple content layers and you need to pass projectLayerId in the body to disambiguate.

Poll the job

The job is standard — see Jobs. Poll GET /v1/jobs/:jobId (or the locationUrl from the response) until status reaches completed.

const { status, result } = await waitForJob(jobId);

A completed clone returns the same container shape as POST /v1/projects/:id/content. Fetch it via GET /v1/content/:containerId for media, captions, and approval status.

{
  "id": "cnt_01H9ZXV...",
  "status": "completed",
  "approvalStatus": "pending",
  "format": "video_remix",
  "hook": "Get things done. Faster than your to-do list app did yesterday.",
  "captionVariants": [
    { "platform": "tiktok", "text": "Day 14 of actually finishing my list. Try acme-todo." }
  ],
  "mediaAssets": [{ "id": "asset_01H9...", "kind": "video", "durationMs": 10800 }],
  "sourcePlatformPostId": "pp_01H9ZXT7..."
}

Route through approval

Cloned content respects the same approval policy as any other generation. If the project is past its firstNPostsBlocked count, clones land approved; before it, they sit as pending until you flip them.

Don't auto-approve clones just because the source is a winner. The clone inherits structural DNA, not the outcome — a fork that copies the hook badly can still flop, and approval is the only gate that catches that before it's live.

Once approved, schedule as usual: POST /v1/content/:containerId/schedule.